Statistician on Islander telecasts since 1982; author of The Skinny on islanders.nhl.com Follow me on Twitter @ehornick

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Tuesday, December 14, 2010

The Skinny: Nashville 5, Isles 0

"The Skinny"

By Eric Hornick

Game 28Predators 5, Isles 0Rookie Anders Lindback made 28 saves for his second consecutive shutout as the Nashville Predators blanked the Islanders 5-0 before a crowd of 14,314 at the Bridgestone Arena. The Islanders have lost six straight while the Preds improve to 6-0-2 in their last eight games.Preds Grab the LeadSergei Kostisyn scored the only goal of the opening session at 11:15 into the first to give Nashville the advantage as he deflected home a shot from Cody Franson. It was Kostisyn's 4th goal of the season.2 in 2:09Patric Hornqvist and Jerred Smithson scored 2:09 apart early in the second period to make it 3-0. It was the first of two goals on the evening for Hornqvist.2 More in ThirdHornqvist scored with 6:05 remaining in regulation to make it 4-0; Nick Spaling, playing his 50th NHL game, added a 5-on-3 goal with 1:25 to play for his first NHL goal. 5-0 Final.

Home and RoadThe Predators improve to 15-8-6, 7-1-5 at home. The Isles are 5-18-5, 2-11-3 on the road. The 15 points in 28 games represents their worst record through 28 games since 1972-73 (3-22-3 for 9 points).The Isles are 0-10-2 in their last 12 on the road and 1-17-3 in their last 21 overall. The Isles have not won in regulation in their last 22 on the road (3-15-4), dating back to their victory in Vancouver on March 9th.In the NetsAnders Lindback made 28 saves; he has stopped 50 shots in consecutive shutouts against the Panthers and Isles. He is now 7-1-2 on the season with a 2.18 GAA and a .931 save percentage. It's the 5th shutout of the season for Nashville; only Boston (6) has more. Dwayne Roloson made 21 saves for the Isles.

Blanked on the RoadThe Isles were shutout for the third time this season; all three have been on the road (at Anaheim, at New York). Since the start of the 2008-09 season, the Isles have been blanked 14 times, with all but one (12/19/09 vs Montreal) happening on the road.5 Allowed The Isles have allowed five goals in each of their last three games. It's the first time since March, 2009 that they have allowed at least five goals in three straight games (in the same season).Power PlaysThe Isles were 0-3 on their power play; they are 1-48 with the extra man in the last 14 games. The Preds' PP, which had scored only 12 goals all season, went 2-4.In the CircleThe Isles had a strong night in the circle as they won 33 of 56 face-offs (59%). Zenon Konopka won 9 of 12 while John Tavares won 10 of 14.

Missing MenMark Streit, Kyle Okposo, Milan Jurcina, Doug Weight, Trent Hunter and Mike Mottau remain out. Radek Martinek missed his 2nd game with soreness after blocking a Zdeno Chara shot on Thursday, while Mark Eaton missed his first game of the season with a groin injury. Trevor Gillies was a healthy scratch.Moulson Extends StreakMatt Moulson, the Isles' reigning ironman, extended his streak to 110 games. He has not missed a game as an Isle. Frnas Nielsen, Zenon Konopka Blake Comeau are the only other Isles to have played every game this season. With Eaton missing the game, James Wisniewski has now played the most consecutive games on defense for the Isles: 24.Reese/Rakhshani RecalledDylan Reese was recalled from Bridgeport to replace the injured Eaton. Reese played 15:25 in his 7th Islander game of the season and was -2.Rhett Rakhshani made his NHL debut, and saw 11:44 of action. Rakhshani is the 6th player to wear #49 in Isles history, following Robert Petrovicky, Drew Fata, Eric Godard, Vlad Orszagh and Matt Fritz. At the time of his recall, Rakhshani was leading all AHL rookies, as well as all Sound Tigers, with 24 points (10-14-24).Season Series Stats This was the only meeting of the season between the teams. The Predators have won five straight from the Isles in Nashville, dating back to a Garth Snow-backstopped win in April, 2002. They have shutout the Isles three times in those five games, using three different goalies (Tomas Vokoun, Pekka Rinne, and Lindback). The Preds have now shutout the Isles one more time than either Toronto or Vancouver, both of whom have been facing the Isles since 1972.Slump StatsThe Isles are 1-17-3 in their last 21 games. It's their fewest points in a 21 game stretch since going 2-18-1 over 21 games from December 27, 1972- February 4 1973. It's the first time that the Isles have earned just one win in a 21-game stretch since they won once in a 28-game span in the 1972-73 season.Chasing .500The loss drops the Islanders' all-time record to 1288-1287-413 in 2,988 games. The Isles' all-time record has been .500 or better since they were 178-178-83 on January 16, 1978. The Isles will play their 3,000th regular season game in Chicago on January 9th.Happy Anniversary7 years ago today (December 13, 2003): Garth Snow stopped 18 shots as the Isles blanked Atlanta 4-0. It was the 16th (and final) shutout of Snow's career. Rick DiPietro would then record the next 13 shutouts in Islander history.18 years ago today (December 13, 1992): In one of four neutral site games in Islander history, the Isles defeat Edmonton 4-1 in the first NHL regular season game played in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Steve Thomas and Tom Fitzgerald each scored twice in the only Islander "home" win not played at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Today, the Oilers' AHL farm club is located in Oklahoma City. Overall, the Isles are 7-7-4 on this date.Up NextThursday, December 13- Ducks @ Islanders 7:00pm[MSG+ (Subway Islanders Game Night at 6:30), WRHU 88.7FM]The Islanders return home to entertain Anaheim on Thursday. It's the second meeting of the season between the teams; Curtis McElhinney stopped 27 shots and Saku Koivu had the game's only goal as the Duck defeated the Isles 1-0 on November 16 at the Pond in Anaheim.Since 2001, the Isles are 5-2-2 vs. Anaheim, with both Ducks wins coming by shutout.Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources. Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick